Bibi Andersson in The Seventh Seal. Remembering international arthouse cinema icon Bibi Andersson: Frequent Ingmar Bergman actress & four-time ‘Swedish Oscar’ winner International arthouse cinema icon Bibi Andersson, a blonde…
Kay Francis. Kay Francis revisited: One of the brightest & most underrated Hollywood stars of the 1930s Kay Francis is the star of the day (April 9) on Turner Classic…
John Boles. Actor & singer John Boles remembered On March 4, Turner Classic Movies is remembering actor-singer John Boles, a name that even the majority of film historians and connoisseurs…
Valentino with Rudolf Nureyev and Michelle Phillips. Ken Russell’s 1977 Rudolph Valentino biopic Valentino is based on the dubious 1966 bio (“Was he a great lover – or a sham?”)…
“Movies” or…? Quo Vadis: One of the first feature films ever made, Enrico Guazzoni’s Italian epic came out in 1913, going on to become a global sensation. Should American “moving…
Updated: Following a couple of Julie London Westerns*, Turner Classic Movies will return to its July 2017 Star of the Month presentations. This evening, July 27, Ronald Colman can be…
‘Under the Volcano’ screening: John Huston’s ‘quality’ comeback starring daring Albert Finney As part of its John Huston film series, the UCLA Film & Television Archive will be presenting the…
Crime novel The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding. While her husband is away during World War II, housewife Lucia Holley – the sort of “Everywoman” who looks great in…
Roy Rogers, Singing Cowboy of 1940s and 1950s Hollywood. Known for his affable characterizations and, both on and off screen, “traditional values” stance, the King of the Cowboys – step…
Antihero Ricardo Cortez in Symphony of Six Million, with Irene Dunne. Directed by Gregory La Cava, this 1932 family/romantic melodrama may have been one of Cortez’s favorite among his own…
“Latin Lover” Ricardo Cortez, who went on to play a series of all-American scoundrels and criminals, in addition to similar unsavory types of other nationalities. Although never as big a…
Ricardo Cortez biography The Magnificent Heel: The Life and Films of Ricardo Cortez. Dan Van Neste’s book covers the life and career of Paramount’s “Latin Lover” threat to a recalcitrant…
(See previous post: Fourth of July Movies: Escapism During a Weird Year.) On the evening of the Fourth of July, besides fireworks, fire hazards, and Yankee Doodle Dandy, if you’re…
(See previous post: “Gay Pride Movie Series Comes to a Close: From Heterosexual Angst to Indonesian Coup.”) Ken Russell’s Valentino (1977) is notable for starring ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev as…
Turner Classic Movies’ 2017 Gay Pride film series comes to a close this evening and tomorrow morning, Thursday–Friday, June 29–30, with the presentation of seven movies, hosted by TV interviewer…
The Doll with Ossi Oswalda and Hermann Thimig. Early Ernst Lubitsch satirical fantasy starring “the German Mary Pickford” has similar premise to that of the 1925 Buster Keaton comedy Seven…
Here’s a brief look – to be expanded – at Turner Classic Movies’ June 2017 European Vacation Movie Series this evening, June 23. Tonight’s destination of choice is Italy. Starring…
More ‘Gay Hollywood’ movies: Montgomery Clift & Anthony Perkins On the day a U.S. appeals court lifted an injunction that blocked a Mississippi “religious freedom” law – i.e., giving Christian…
Turner Classic Movies continues with its Gay Hollywood presentations tonight and tomorrow morning, June 8–9. Seven movies will be shown about, featuring, directed, or produced by the following: Cole Porter,…
Edgar G. Ulmer movies on TCM: ‘The Black Cat’ & ‘Detour’ Turner Classic Movies’ June 2017 Star of the Month is Audrey Hepburn, but Edgar G. Ulmer is its film…
Considering everything that’s been happening on the planet in the last several months, you’d have thought we’re already in November or December – of 2117. But no. It’s only June.…
Submarine movie evening: Underwater war waged in TCM’s Memorial Day films In the U.S., Turner Classic Movies has gone all red, white, and blue this 2017 Memorial Day weekend, presenting…
Frances Dee movies: From ‘An American Tragedy’ to ‘Four Faces West’ Frances Dee began her film career at the dawn of the sound era, going from extra to leading lady…
One of cinema’s early comediennes, Dorothy Devore: between 1918 and 1930, the Ft. Worth-born actress was seen in nearly 100 movies, both features and shorts. Among them were Salvation Sue,…
Danielle Darrieux in ‘La Ronde.’ Film icon Danielle Darrieux turns 100: Longest ‘star career’ in movie history? Screen legend Danielle Darrieux is turning 100 today, May 1. In all likelihood,…
Jimmy Edwards. Best known for his radio and television work – Take It from Here in the former medium; Whack-O! in the latter – British comedian Jimmy Edwards was seen,…
Ronald Colman: Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month in two major 1930s classics Updated: Turner Classic Movies’ July 2017 Star of the Month is Ronald Colman, one of the…
How to be a Latin Lover: Ricardo Cortez, formerly known as Jacob Krantz from a working-class family of Austrian/Hungarian immigrants that had settled in New York City, succeeded in restyling…
Fourth of July movies: A few recommended titles that should help you temporarily escape current global madness Two thousand and seventeen has been a weirder-than-usual year on the already pretty…
“Amazing Tales from the Archives”: Pioneering female documentarian Aloha Wanderwell Baker remembered at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival – along with the largely forgotten sound-on-cylinder technology and the Jean…
Canadian-born actress Alexis Smith (born 1921) would have turned 96 years old on June 8. Turner Classic Movies is celebrating her birthday by presenting nine of her movies, mostly during…
Blake Edwards: Director of the Pink Panther movies – and Julie Andrews’ husband for more than four decades – was at his best handling polished comedies and a couple of…